Morphophysiological Responses in Eucalyptus Demonstrate the Potential of the Entomopathogenic Fungus Beauveria bassiana to Promote Resistance against the Galling Wasp Leptocybe invasa

The galling insect Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is a major limiting factor in the cultivation of drought-tolerant eucalyptus. The insect L. invasa is a major pest of eucalyptus plantations, and Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) is being investigated as a potential biocontrol agent against this pest. The fungus B. bassiana can produce metabolites that affect insect biology and survival. Here, we investigated the ability of the entomopathogenic B. bassiana to endophytically develop and induce resistance to L. invasa in a drought-tolerant eucalyptus hybrid. In a greenhouse under semi-controlled conditions, a group of seedlings were sprayed with a solution containing the fungal spores of B. bassiana. The uninoculated seedlings and seedlings inoculated were infested with L. invasa, and their morphometric responses, gas exchange, and chlorophyll indexes were assessed. The number of leaves and height of the inoculated plants was higher than those of the uninoculated plants. The mean CO2 assimilation rate (A) and transpiration rate (E) were higher for inoculated plants. The inoculated plants showed higher chl a and chl b contents. Compared to the uninoculated plants, the inoculated plants developed much fewer galls, while some showed only scar formations where L. invasa deposited its eggs. These results indicated that inoculating Eucalyptus with B. bassiana promoted resistance to L. invasa. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study showing that an entomopathogenic fungus can develop endophytically to promote resistance against a galling insect pest.